V. FAM. PAPILIONID^. 
SUB-FAM. PAPILIONINCE. 
Genus PAP 1 LIO. 
„ LEPTOCIRCUS. 
The usually large and brilliant butterflies of this Family are by no means confined to 
the tropical regions, though they are most numerous there and attain their maximum size and most 
gorgeous colouring ; but they are represented in every Region and Sub-region. There is one 
English example, P. machaon , which was formerly common in the fens of Cambridge and 
Huntingdon, but is rapidly becoming rarer. Wallace in his Geographical distribution oj 
Animals says “ Well-marked sub-divisions of this large genus (Papilio) are characteristic of each 
great region—as...the Paris group in the Oriental.” Leptocircus is peculiar to the 
Oriental Region. Most insects of the genus Papilio fly very swiftly, wandering far and wide, 
rapidly vibrating their half-closed wings whilst feeding at flowers, of which they are all extremely 
fond. All but two species (P. aristolochice and P. xuthus) which occur here are common, some 
of the most beautiful being almost the commonest butterflies during the wet season and on into 
November ; towards the end of that month they become very scarce, most of them only reappearing 
at the beginning of the following March. The Memnon group is rather an exception to the rest 
of the genus, as their flight is comparatively slow, though strong, and they are not so intensely 
devoted to flowers as others of the genus ; at least they do not spend so much time in feeding. 
Lantana is without doubt the favourite flower of the Papilionince here, though they frequent 
many other kinds also. The larvae of this Family are, I believe, the only butterfly caterpillars 
here (with the exception of the larvae of Pieris canidia and Lchera eryx) which work any real 
damage to cultivated plants. Nearly all feed upon various species of Aurantiacece , especially the 
orange, pumelo and whampi, but these trees, except the whampi, are not so extensively cultivated here 
as farther inland, up the West River, and they are generally much neglected ; becoming the prey 
of hosts of Hemipterous insects or “ bugs,” aphides and many other hurtful creatures which appear 
to shrivel and canker the leaves, probably doing more real mischief to the trees than larvae which 
eat away the leaves cleanly, and whose depredations are not much noticed except on very young 
plants. The eggs of the Papilionince are almost invariably laid on the upperside of leaves and 
stems, especially young leaves and shoots, and the larvae nearly always rest on the upper surface of 
the leaves, in full view ; though even then the majority of them are difficult to detect, the larva of 
P. clytia being a striking exception. The larvae all appear to have a large forked process, or 
nuchal horn, which can be exserted at will from a narrow and almost imperceptible slit on the top 
of the second segment, just against the head. The pupae all have a band or girdle round the 
middle and, except the pupa of P. clytia , are angular and much alike, usually of various shades of 
